Secret of the Grain (Czech Republic / France / Germany; 103 min.) directed by: Abdel Kechiche starring: Habib Boufares; Hafsia Herzi; Farida Benkhetache; Abdelhamide Aktouche; Bouraouïa Marzouk Beth Caldwell says: “Great film. Slow, quiet sequences of scenes, but this technique
Read the review...Grace (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Paul Solet
Starring: Gabrielle Rose | Jordan Ladd | Malcolm Stewart | Samantha Ferris | Stephen Park
Jason says: “When a child is born in a fantastical serial, whether it be television, comics, or movie sequels, there is almost inevitably some plot twist that ages him/her rapidly, or jumps the audience forward in time, or otherwise presents
Read the review...Goodbye Solo (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Ramen Bahrani
Starring: Diana Franco Galindo | Lane 'Roc' Williams | Mamadou Lam | Red West | Souleymane Sy Savane
Diane says: “I’m not as crazy about GOODBYE SOLO as the reviewers have been. Let’s call it THE VISITOR meets A TASTE OF CHERRY–a suicidal middle-aged white American man is thrown into the lively world of a Senegalese cab driver.
Read the review...Good Hair (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Jeff Stilson
Michael says: “The best documentaries entertain and educate. It’s always great fun to watch an entertaining movie, but it’s even better to have fun and learn something too! Chris Rock knows this and he does a terrific job spinning a
Read the review...Gomorrah (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Matteo Garrone
Starring: Gianfelice Imparato | Italo Renda | Marco Macor | Salvatore Abruzzese | Salvatore Cantalupo | Salvatore Ruocco | Simone Sacchettino | Siro Petrone | Vincenzo Altamura | Vincenzo Fabricino
Bruce says: “With all the hype over GOMORRAH, I expected one extreme or another. To my surprise it was a decent, slice-of-life film that provides some insight into the Cammora, Naples’ equivalent of the Mafia. Naples has become a world
Read the review...Go Go 70’s (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Ho Choi
Starring: Kwang-ho Hong | Min-a Shin | Min-cheol Choi | Seung-woo Cho | Seung-wu Cha
Jason says: “What does a classic rock & roll movie need? A new sound. Rebellion against authority. Strife within the band. A girl. Clubs. Maybe a writer. And, of course, music that rocks, even if a generation has passed since
Read the review...Give Me Your Hand (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Pascal-Alex Vincent
Starring: Alexandre Carril | Anaïs Demoustier | Patrick Hauthier | Victor Carril
Bruce says: “Many famous films have twins as characters: HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, GONE WITH THE WIND, GIANT but they remain just a statement of fact or a plot adjunct, not an exploration of a phenomenon.
Read the review...The Girl from Monaco (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Director: Anne Fontaine
Starring: Alexandre Steiger | Fabrice Luchini | Gilles Cohen | Jeanne Balibar | Roschdy Zem | Stéphane Audran
Jeff says: “**Slight spoilers** “A high-powered, middle-aged Parisian lawyer (Fabrice Luchini) comes to Monaco to defend an older woman against charges that she murdered her much younger Russian lover. He’s thrown into full-on mid-life crisis mode when a free-spirited (or
Read the review...Garbage Dreams (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Mai Iskander
Jason says: “Mai Iskander has made a fine documentary in GARBAGE DREAMS, the type that is about people first, and does a fine job of being issue-oriented without hammering away at buzzwords like ‘globalizatioN.’ For all that, I must admit
Read the review...Garapa (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: José Padilha
Bruce says: “Garapa is a mixture of sugar and water, heated so that the sugar dissolves thoroughly. Sadly, it is the main source of nourishment for many children in South America and Africa, children whose parents cannot find jobs to
Read the review...For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Gerald Peary
Michael says: “FOR THE LOVE OF MOVIES: THE STORY OF AMERICAN FILM CRITICISM – What a joy to attend the New England premiere of friend and long-time Chlotrudis supporters Gerry Peary and Amy Geller’s film, FOR THE LOVE OF MOVIES:
Read the review...The Fly (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Vladimir Kott
Starring: Aleksei Kravchenko | Alexandr Golubkov | Alexandra Tyuftey | Olga Lapshina
Bruce says: “Fedor (Aleksei Kravchenko) is a happy man. He and his partner drive large trucks from town to town, drinking vodka and picking up women. Fedor connects with various women everywhere he goes but he also appreciates the occasional
Read the review...Flame & Citron (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Ole Christian Madsen
Starring: Mads Mikkelsen | Stine Stengade | Thure Lindhardt
Beth Curran says: “Set in Denmark during its WWII occupation, the film tells the story of two famous Danish resistance fighters, Flame and Citron, and tells it with eyes open and no holds barred, which has made it quite a
Read the review...Five Hours from Paris (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Leonid Prudovsky
Starring: Dana Glozman | Dror Keren | Efim Gelman | Helena Yaralova | Ohad Gil | Vladimir Friedman | Yoram Toledano
Michael says: “A well-acted, mature romantic comedy is hard to come by in this day and age, and this Israeli film by a Russian director fits the bill very well. Yigal drives a taxi, and remains good friends with his
Read the review...The Fish Child (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Lucia Puenzo
Starring: Arnaldo André | Carlos Bardem | Inés Efron | Julián Doregger | Mariela Vitale | Pep Munné | Sandra Guida
Bruce says: “**Spoilers** “THE FISH CHILD is taboo director Lucia Puenzo’s follow-up to the remarkable XXY. Based on her own novel, the multilayered story unfolds with flashbacks through different periods of time, creating a jigsaw effect. The storyline is complex
Read the review...Fine, Totally Fine (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.2 cats
Director: Yosuke Fujita
Starring: Yoshino Kimura | Yoshinori Okada | YosiYosi Arakawa
Jason says: “FINE, TOTALLY FINE has one of the highest quirk-to-story ratios ever recorded in a feature-length motion picture. It is, admittedly, though to measure, as both the plot and the digressions from it are so wispy that it’s almost
Read the review...A Film with Me In It (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Ian Fitzgibbon
Starring: Aisling O'Sullivan | Amy Huberman | Dylan Moran | Keith Allen | Mark Doherty
Jason says: “As much as I (and most critics, I imagine) am happy to shred a movie that relies too heavily on coincidence and seemingly random events. After all, at some point, the characters should succeed based on their own
Read the review...The Eyes of Me (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Keith Maitland
Jason says: “My first reaction to THE EYES OF ME was ‘okay, for a movie whose natural home is local public television.’ That’s at least a bit unfair – there’s really nothing in it that would limit its appeal to
Read the review...Extract (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Mike Judge
Starring: Ben Affleck | Clifton Collins Jr. | J.K. Simmons | Jason Batemani | Kristin Wiig | Mila Kunis
Toni says: “I have a keen taste personally in comedies and personally prefer the dark. I am a fan of Mike Judge’s work from his work as an animator on THE ANIMATION SHOW and the TV series, ‘The King of
Read the review...Love Exposure (2009)
By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Sion Sono
Starring: Atsuro Watabe | Hikari Mitsushima | Makiko Watanabe | Sakura Andô | Takahiro Nishijima
Jason says: “I recommend LOVE EXPOSURE, rather highly, in fact, but be warned: Maverick Japanese director Sion Sono has a rather singular vision, and his previous feature, the more or less mainstream horror-comedy Hair Extensions, only gives audiences a glimpse
Read the review...